Maharashtra: Collector puts Beed under 8-day curfew after 3 test +ve

AURANGABAD: Beed district collector Rahul Rekhawar has again ordered curfew in Beed city from Thursday after the detection of three positive Covid-19 cases. Administration sources said the three patients have been moving around the city, visiting several places. One of them is a political activist who has come in contact with several people.
On May 28 too, Rekhawar had declared an eight-day curfew in Beed city and 12 other villages in the district when a man tested positive in Karegaon, Patoda taluka.The man had come to Karegaon, his native place, from Mumbai. However, the curfew was withdrawn after opposition from prominent citizens as well as from teachers who were assigned the task of delivering groceries to citizens.
The new curfew order was issued on Wednesday with Rekhawar stating that the chances of the spread of the infection, in the light of the three testing positive, were good enough to mandate precautionary measures. The entry or exit of people in the city will be banned during the curfew period.
Beed under 8-day curfew after three turn positive
While saying that a separate order about supply of other essentials would be issued, Rekhawar has allowed home delivery of milk and vegetables through permitted vendors. No restrictions will apply to medical services, newspapers and media-related services during the curfew. All establishments, including banks and private offices, will stay closed while the revenue department, police, rural and urban development offices, and agriculture and health services have been exempted. People working in these fields will have to produce their identity-cards when asked for.
Rekhawar made it clear that citizens would not get online or offline passes to travel out of the district or state, except for medical emergencies.
Former Beed NCP MLA Syed Saleem, who had earlier sought the chief secretary’s intervention on Rekhawar’s May 28 order that prompted the curfew to be withdrawn within two days, told TOI on Thursday that every action of the district administration should be in consonance with the state government’s guidelines. He said the government doesn’t encourage day curfew, adding that people should follow the norms.
Saleem said the three cases were “unfortunate” and urged people with symptoms to get tested. He was also concerned about the administration not declaring steps it was taking to provide essentials like groceries to the residents. Most of Beed’s population was poor and don’t have means to store essentials, he added.